


The White Witch's Light

by CaptainMallory



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Ben and Rey save the day, Ben and the Knights Fight, Childhood Memories, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fantasy, Gargoyle, Gargoyle Ben, Gargoyle Kylo, Happily Ever After, Knights of Ren - Freeform, Knights of Ren Death Scenes, Magic, Magical Artifacts, Magical Realism, Mentions of Death, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild fantasy fighting, Monster - Freeform, Monsterfucking, PIV Sex, Palpatine is Dead, Protective Rey (Star Wars), Rey kills the Knights of Ren, Rey the witch fucks Ben the Gargoyle, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Smutember 2020, Ritual Sex, Rituals, Sex Magic, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Smutember 2019, Suspense, Tail Sex, Tails, Teeth and Claws, Vaginal Fingering, Witch Rey, beauty and the beast vibes, blindfold, drawings included, drawings of sex act, fangs, mentions of wanting to die, monster fucking, reylo monster, reylo monster fucking, smutember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:55:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainMallory/pseuds/CaptainMallory
Summary: Rey, the White Witch of Naboo, receives a scroll from the Council of Master--sorcerers and teachers of ancient magick. Her estranged-grandfather, The Sorcerer Palpatine, has died, leaving his estate and all within it to his sole surviving heir. But on one condition--Rey must survive the night in a castle full of secrets and nightmares. Rey goes, seeking answers to her family--why did her grandfather leave her in the care of the Council? And what awaits within its walls for her? She finds more than she ever expected, and learns that creatures born of malice and twisted, dark magick roam the castle. All of them still bound to her grandfather's bidding, except one. A rebel, a friend, and perhaps something more. The two forge an unlikely alliance, and Rey must trust in the gargoyle, Ben, if she wants to survive the night. She may not find the family she was looking for, but in the end, will Rey find something more precious than answers? And can Ben be saved?The White Witch's Light, part of Reylo Smutember 2020, from the prompt "Teeth and Claws"
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 50
Collections: Reylo Smutember 2020





	The White Witch's Light

**Author's Note:**

> Please be aware that this fic contains depictions of graphic sex, mild fantasy violence, suspense, and follows canon compliant themes including Ben's desire to die for the evils deeds he has done. The only characters who die at the Knights of Ren, which include descriptions of the battles, deaths, and aftermath. There is a happily ever after ending.
> 
> This is a monsterfucking fic. Human Rey fucks the gargoyle. An E rated Beauty and the Beast,if you will. During the sex scene there is tail-in-vagina foreplay. 
> 
> There is a lot of play on dark magick and white magick imagery, stemming form my own practice as a witch, and using the spiritual themes of actual magick. Please do not attempt to use magick without thoroughly researching it or speaking to a witch. 
> 
> If I missed any tags, please let me know and I will fix it immediately! I hope you enjoy this addition to Smutember 2o2o.

It was early in the wee hours, the dawn light slowly seeping through the delicate gossamer curtains, illuminating the dozens of drying herbs clustered and hanging from the ceiling amid jars of differently colored liquids, corked and sealed with wax. Rey was stoking the embers of her hearth with a few twigs of kindling, and a hushed spell of ignition, before the hearth crackled to life. The flames seemed to yawn with slumber, flickering at her with sleepy tongues. Rey nestled her well loved iron kettled amongst the coals, and set about opening the cottage’s windows to welcome the day. The gentle smoke of the fire wafted up among her spell ingredients and the rainbow kaleidoscope of her finished work.

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” Rey muttered to herself as she lit cleansing sage and set it in the abalone shell to purify her space; all part of her morning ritual. She sliced herself a thick cut of bread and slathered it in butter and a drizzle of honey, and then took two eggs over to the hearth with a pan. Rey savored her sweet breakfast treat, but just before she was able to crack her eggs on the stone, the curtains rustled and her kitchen filled with a flutter of wings. A raven had alighted on the back of one of her dining chairs. Attached to his leg was a scroll. He was preening his wings while Rey fished around in her pockets for a small token of her appreciation and found a small, shiny button. Rey first offered the bird her thanks with the trinket, and then untied the missive. The raven gurgled a grateful croak and clacked the button in his beak before alighting again, leaving Rey standing in the kitchen alone. Rey carefully unrolled the scroll and there in thin scripted writing read the following:

_ “To her eminence, Rey of Naboo, White Witch of the Valley _

_ It is with sadness we have written to you, Rey of Naboo, to tell you that the Sorcerer Palpatine, your paternal grandfather, has passed away at long last. In his last wil and testamentl, he has bequeathed his castle, and all of its contents therein, to you, on the condition that you can survive a night within it. The Council of Masters would strongly caution you against entering such a cursed place. If you undertake the task of purifying your grandfather’s castle, we will not be able to lend you our aid, for our light cannot penetrate its darkness. But should you succeed, the castle and its magickal contents rightfully belong to you. _

_ Signed, The Council of Masters _

_ Anakin, Master of Sky _

_ Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master of Mind _

_ Mace Windu, Master of Shatterpoint _

_ Yoda, Master of the OtherWorld _

_ Kit Fisto, Master of Wands” _

Rey’s knees felt weak beneath her and her heart pounded in her ears. Her mouth was parched but her palms felt clammy. The words rattled in her brain and the room seemed suddenly small and suffocating. She only just managed to scrape her chair across the stone floor to sink into it--her body leaden and heavy. Rey let the scroll curl up on the table. “So, at last, I am truly alone in this world?” Rey thought as the truth of the Council’s words washed over her. Before Rey could ponder her loss further, the kettle on the hearth began to whistle. With a flick of her wrist, the kettle lifted itself and emptied into her teacup, swirling the leaves within.

“No better time than to consult the leaves, I suppose,” Rey said as she summoned the teacup to her. Too hot to drink, she stared into its swirling contents, and fuzzy memories came back to her, slowly.

She had spent only six years learning her craft at her mother’s knee before mother’s untimely death. Her father had been dead long before then. That was when her grandfather had come for her, taking her away to his castle. All she could really recall of it were the enormous hallways with statues lining them and the lonely room he had made for her full of pillows, with barred windows. A comfortable cell. He had not had her with him long before he sent her away. There had been lightning that day, an awful storm, howling winds, and that was the last time she had seen him. He had been working on something, she knew that much, but that had been 13 years ago, and despite all her efforts to contact him or find out why he had sent her to the Council to learn magick, instead of keeping him with her. And the Council and its teachers had never discovered what had transpired. Her grandfather had paid her patronage for her education, but that was all he had ever given her. 

“And now, he is gone,” Rey thought bitterly. She was alone in this world, with no family, at twenty-three. Rey meditated on these thoughts as she began to sip her tea, the rest of her breakfast forgotten. There was a deep well of loneliness and loss in her chest, burgeoning resentment. A longing to know, and to find answers buried somewhere in her grandfather’s castle. Rey drained the last of the tea from her cup and swirled the leaves within. “Birds, and the bridge,” Rey pondered, both signs of a good journey ahead. She turned her cup to the other side, and asked it, “If I go, will I find the answers I seek?” and she saw clearly now the omen of a castle, the symbol for unexpected fortune, but beset by wavy lines, knowing that she would have to persevere through struggle to find the answer.

“Of course,” Rey sighed and set the cup down. Nothing came easy to her, it would seem.

She sat at her table the rest of the morning, contemplating the leaf reading, wondering why now, after years of trying to reach him, her grandfather had left her this in the end. The sun was approaching midday by the time Rey had made up her mind. It did not take her long to summon her potions and tools, nor did it take her long to finish her breakfast at last and pack up hard cheeses and meats, the rest of the loaf of bread, and a water skin. All this found its way into a rucksack that Rey hoisted onto her back, and at last she summoned her staff to her, a long, beautiful cut of yew, with her hand cut runes. A yellow crystal was fixed proudly at each end. 

As Rey closed the door on her little forest cottage, she visualized her essence igniting her staff, which began to glow yellow. She carefully pressed the point to her door to draw a protection rune, the wood scratching beneath before mounting the staff and kicking off into the sky. If her grandfather was dead, then the castle would finally be plottable--his enchantments and wards had been powerful in his life, but death strips away all illusion. 

“And if it has fallen, so has…” Rey tried to push the thought from her mind as she followed the river. She wanted answers. No. She  _ deserved  _ answers.

It was well into afternoon when Rey landed just outside the castle grounds. It stood ominous and monolithic, an impressive building of dark stone, with parapets and ramparts reaching up to kiss the clouds. Its walls were covered in lichen and moss, and the grounds were unkempt, growing wild with tall grasses, brambled rose bushes, twisted trees. It had always looked this way--slightly dilapidated,with an aura of imposition oozing from the grounds. Rey had never been able to get closer than this, thanks to her grandfather’s powerful barrier. But today, Rey was able to step through the border. 

“So it is true, grandfather,” Rey said to herself as she approached, “You truly have fallen.”

Rey met no resistance or tricks as she walked up the pebbled path to the garden. If there had been wards out here, they must have faded upon his death. As Rey came closer to the grounds surrounding the estate, the overgrown gardens began to take over the path. Sculptures and fountains dotted the estate, but they had long fallen to creeping vines and thorns. The waters in ponds scum filled and algae bloomed. Flies hummed lazily through the air. As Rey stepped into the courtyard, wild crows announced her presence. They alighted in a flurry of wings from craggly, snaggled apple trees--their luncheon disturbed by her unwanted presence. Rey was overcome with a powerful memory. The garden had been here, she recalled. Her grandfather had grown powerful herbs, vegetables, and various nightshades that Rey had never been allowed to touch. But she remembered her small sun kissed hands reaching up to the boughs of an apple tree high above her head, and a wizened hand reaching out over her, plucking an apple, and the foggy, unclear face of her grandfather as he handed her the tempting fruit.

Except now it ran completely wild. Weeds were proudly defiling the cracks between the cobbles. The garden was browned and dead, only the prolific poisonous plants had taken over all else. A strangling vine had choked her beloved apple tree. Now as a grown woman, Rey reached for its branches, and found only rotten fruit clinging to dying limbs. Rey didn't know if she felt pity, disgust, sadness, or maybe all three. All her memories were now dead and lying in ruins. She lingered a moment there in the cool stone, the wind whispering through the arches. 

Rey forced her feet to move, leaving the courtyard farther along the path and up to the oaken door of the castle--covered in ancient runes and growing lichen. The iron hinges holding it in place had grown rusty over the years. Rey held her staff aloft and the yellow kyber crystals shone with light as she touched on the door, biding it to open. As if judging her, the door took a few moments to accept her request. It swung inward, though, at last, the rust flaking off as they groaned in protest. A gust of stale air exhaled past Rey and she stepped at last into the damp gloom of her grandfather's once proud home.

The door closed behind her as she crossed the threshold, clanking shut to return to slumber. Rey waved her staff and incanted the sconces to light for her, but they stubbornly refused. She frowned. Her grandfather clearly did not mean for her to win over the spirit of the castle so easily. If she meant to be the master of the home, she would have to earn it, it would seem. Rey kept her crystals lit as she began to move through the space. Her golden light cast deep shadows around her as she began her search for the kitchen so she could refresh. The halls were much like the grounds, except the delicate angels and playful faeries Rey remembered had been traded for twisted gargoyles. Their faces were shrouded by strange masks hung on the walls next to dark paintings, whose eyes seemed to follow Rey as she searched. None of the faces were familiar to her--their occupants were imposing and cruel. The high windows had been covered by thick black curtains, now covered with a blanket of dust and housing spidery companions. When Rey tried to pull one open, it stayed stubbornly in place. Even a command from her staff only billowed the dust, leaving Rey coughing.

She only vaguely remembered the lay of the castle. The rooms, library, and study were in towers, and the first level had been used as a great hall, kitchen, dining, garden, and larder. There was a side door that led to a covered path to a forge where her grandfather had made magickal tools. It was vast and cavernous, and Rey's steps echoed even on the moth eaten rugs.

It took a few twists, turns, and a back track before Rey found the door that led to the kitchen. Thankfully it did not resist her command to unlock and admitted her. Inside was a large wooden table, hewn from a single tree. Benches lined it's length, and at the head stood an ornate tufted chair, now sadly stained and the straw coming out. The black velvet looked chewed on, perhaps by mice or pixies. Rey's fingers trailed through the dust on the table as she walked back toward the hearth. There was a stack of kindling and dried firewood nearby, which she placed among the long cold ashes. With a strike of her knife against the crystal, the fire sleepily caught and tiny tendrils of smoke found their way up the chimney stack.

"That will help," Rey said with some small satisfaction as she unpacked her sack. She set the small iron kettle nearby and filled it with another tap of her staff. Sparkling clear water erupted from it's tip. Rey idly wondered if the larder and pantry held anything worthwhile, and she needed to find the plates as well. She stood and found that door just to her right, and it finally gave way with a firm shove. Inside, Rey was pleased to find a stack of dusty silver plates and accompanying silverware, and there was still a stash of potatoes, onions, and other rooted vegetables that weren't yet rotten. Jars of various pickled foods lined the shelves. Rey pulled on the doors and the larder creaked open. Yet, when she descended down the shaft, it was barren. There would be no butter for her bread this evening.

Rey began to ascend the spiraling stairs of the larder, her staff held aloft to light her way. At the end of the shaft, Rey thought she saw a glow of red eyes, but when she raised her light higher to see the glint more clearly, the glow was suddenly gone.

"Maybe the upholstery eaters are growing fat in the pantry," Rey wondered to herself, but whatever that was, unease crept into her heart. Rey knew her grandfather would not have her claim her inheritance easily, but whatever that had been, she hoped it was only a pixie.

The kettle was singing as Rey returned with a pot, cup, and some accompaniments to make a stew with the potatoes and onions she had found and the meat she had brought. But the unsettling feeling of being watched did not leave her as she made her lunch of bread and cheese. Nor did it leave as she set about stewing her dinner. The cup of calming tea made with the lavender infusion draught she had brought took the edge off, but Rey was certain she would have to leave the comfort of the kitchen and begin making her way up to find a place to sleep soon. The impenetrable darkness of the castle would only grow thicker with the approaching night, and night was only a few hours off.

Rey picked a place at the table and wiped the dust from her seat and her plate with the sleeve of her robe. She sat facing the door, her back to the fire, and her staff within reach as she ate and cooked. Every noise, from the rustle of the curtains to a scurry of something on the stone floor raised Rey's gooseflesh. She barely dared to look back at the cook pot, as each hour crept closer to nightfall. the feeling of being watched intensified. 

It was supper time as scheduled when the stew was ready, and Rey ate with haste, intent on finding a bed and barring the door as quickly as she could. Rey packed up the rest of her food into her sack and scoured her pot and plate with a washing charm. She settled them next to the hearth to use in the morning. She would not entertain the possibility of not making it through the night here. Surely her grandfather would not want his only heir to follow him to the OtherWorld so soon?

Rey lit her staff again, and magicked a burning coal into her cup to carry with her to her chambers. It was a good omen to bear hearth fire to the bedroom. Rey left the secure feeling the kitchen brought her and stepped back into the cavernous hall. Her first wandering to find the kitchen had led her to find the hallway that connected to the stairs up into the living suites, so Rey turned to her left and followed the path back to the great hall and raised her staff once more. It cast long shadows about her as she looked for the northeastern hallway. It had been marked by a gargoyle, she remembered, his hunched form and folded wings, with a strange mask on his face. Rey found her bearing and spotted it at the far right corner, her light barely reaching there in the darkness that seemed to grow thicker and thicker with every passing moment toward dusk.

When Rey reached the gargoyle, she shown her light upon it, curious. It was bent over and bowed. Its clawed hand gripped a pedestal, the other hand rested on a helmet, holding it by the side. It was a rather ugly helmet, with no eye holes to be seen, only a slit, and the pattern covering the mouth was a checkered spread, almost like a muzzle. It wore a cowl that hooded up over the dome of the helmet and it wrapped somewhat tastefully over a muscular yet grotesque and twisted figure. A loin cloth covered its sex. Large batlike wings dropped to either side, and it squatted on clawed feet. Despite being made from stone, it looked taught, as if any moment it would spring forward. Rey gave it only a few moments more before sticking her tongue out at him rudely and beginning down the hall.

She remembered this hall too. Once upon a time the arched windows of the passage were wide open, bright sunlight pouring in through the glass. The busts had been famous wizards and witches, their countenances stern. She vaguely remembered an old, leathery hand leading her through this hallway, explaining each great member of the Council of Master's, their powers, their rule, and of course the assurance one day little Rey may see herself among these carved marble faces. 

Rey now saw the busts were gone, and six twisted gargoyles lined the passage to the tower. Rey stopped at each one, surveying them in the light of her crystal. Each one wore a helmet, a cowl covering the top, and wrapped about their waists. Claws, wings, and bird-like feet, they stood, sat, and splayed on their resting places, but they looked like coiled snakes or tigers waiting to catch some unsuspecting prey. That is, until the last. He was arranged on his hip, his legs more human, ending in grasping claws that only held the air. He was magnificently carved, muscles etched by a master hand. His clawed hand was cast up and over his head, resting among a carved tousle of hair. His other clawed hand rested on his helmet, which he balanced on his lap. It had cracked and shattered some time ago, and the pieces lay scattered on the floor in front of him. Rey looked at his face, and saw the carved had even taken care to carve freckles and moles onto his skin. His mouth was ajar as if he was taken by surprise, and the detail extended to a set of fangs. When Rey held her light closer to his face, she saw not the menacing glare of a monster, but a look of anguish. Forlorn eyes, a knitted brow. That was when Rey saw that his carved had given him a scar that ran the length of his chest on the right side, puckered and angry looking. Though he was handsome, he stared down at himself in misery

.

Rey was so moved by his carved countenance, she couldn't help but reach a small hand up and caress his stone cheek. She ran her thumb over him and said in a pitied whisper, "Poor thing, for them to carve you this way for all eternity." 

The others had seemed so menacing and cruel, and yet this one on the end was handsome and tortured. Rey forced herself to move on, knowing she would have to wait out the darkness in the safety of her room. Yet, when she arrived at the end of the passage, she felt compelled to look back at the figure one last time. Rey turned and raised her light down the hall, and to her horror she saw only empty pedestals. The gargoyles were gone.

“Run,” came a croaked voice from the darkness behind her. Rey swung around, her heart racing, choking on the taste of bile, “Grandfather?” she wondered for a single moment. No, no, he was dead. She saw the handsome gargoyle lurking there in the shadows, his arms now covering his face, and a new pained grimace spread across his features, as if… “As if the light burns and binds them,” The thought came to Rey suddenly, and without hesitation she held her staff aloft, beseeching the goddess to strengthen her light until she reached safety.

Rey ran pell-mell, her footsteps a rapid tattoo in the stone floor. Off in the shadows, she could hear trampling of the stone beasts pursuing her--snarls and the scrape of stone on stone. There was a whistle of wind whenever, she assumed, one of them stretched their wings, as the air rushed over the carvings. She stopped at every door she came across, shoving and cursing at them with all her might, desperately searching for a way to escape, but none budged. When she turned the corners the beasts gained on her, the thuds of their monolithic bodies echoing around, confusing her. Were they ahead or behind? Rey felt as though they lived in the very shadows and could teleport closer and closer to her, melting from one shadow to the next. Only her aura of light seemed to keep her safe. She turned right, and skittered to a halt. One of the masked monsters was suspended in mid leap, only one foot on the ground, his claws outstretched and reaching for her. She had stopped only a few feet from him, sparing her the fate of being ripped to shreds. His massive wings filled the hallway and she would not be able pass unless she dared to crawl underneath them. The very notion of getting so close to the hunter did nothing to calm her.

“Come,” a voice called out from behind the beast. It was deep and croakey, as though choked with years of silence, rarely, if ever, used.

That voice again--now certain it was not her grandfather, Rey stepped away. Surely whatever was calling her only bade her to her doom. Rey bolted back the way she came and was met with another leaping snarling monster suspended, his grotesque body unfurled and his wings scraped the walls. His claws reached for her, and Rey heard the one behind her now snarling from the shadows. 

“C-c-o-o-me,” the croaky voice called again, back behind the living, moving gargoyle. , Caught between the two monsters, she had no choice but to follow. 

Rey flattened her back to the wall and held her staff in front of her, illuminating much of the hall. She began to inch along, toward the voice that had called to her, when suddenly she heard a horrific screeching, and a scraping and crashing that reminded her of falling boulders. Rey’s knees nearly gave out beneath her, but she couldn’t stop herself. She bolted towards the voice. She needed to know. When she reached the spot where she had first been captured, her light shone on two gargoyles now locked in battle, frozen in her light. The handsome gargoyle had the helmeted one pinned beneath his claws. His furious fangs were bared and lashed out at the throat out of his foe, seeking purchase beneath the helmet. Fresh wounds lanced across their bodies in cracks and gouges, crumbling away, and their clawed hands were locked in battle. The helmeted one was trying to eviscerate the handsome one with his powerful clawed feet.

“He…. he’s trying to help me,” Rey realized. She had no time to stop and return the favor. She could hear the hulking scrape of a third gargoyle now hurtling down the hall behind her. Rey ran on and left the three monsters to the consuming darkness. As her light receded, the howls and thunderous battle renewed, this time much louder. She saw the third in shadowed movement pause just beyond the frozen battle. Had this one come to the aid of the cowled beast? What would happen if she left her handsome gargoyle? She could not stop--there were still three more monsters roaming the darkness.

“Please, please be ok,” Rey whispered into the darkness for the handsome one’s sake. 

This hallway came to a deadend, and there, at last, was a familiar door. Rey only had to touch the handle for it to swing open for her, and she was transported back in her memory once more, now standing in her childhood room, just as she had left it when her grandfather had sent her away to her tutelage with the Council. There was no time for her to reminisce. Rey barred the door, and set her staff against it, willing it to stay lit as she grabbed and shoved whatever furniture she could in front of the door to reinforce it. Only then did Rey sit down, leaning back against the barricade, clutching her staff and breathing hard. A stitch had worked its way into her side as she tried to recover.

She had a million questions about the beasts and why her grandfather had kept such monsters, but none could drown out the horrible noises of the gargoyles battle. They echoed through the very grounds, reverberating off the walls, thundering like mountains breaking against each other. With each blow there was a fresh, banshee wail from the victim, a bellow of triumph from the assailant, noises like nails on chalkboard, and cataclysmic clash of stone against stone. Rey was not sure what was worse, stone giants battling or their howling. 

Rey clapped her hands over her ears, begging the sound to stop, when suddenly there was a great roar and then many thuds, as though rocks were falling down in a landslide. And then suddenly, deafening silence. She could hear at last scraping and growling, the victor prowling away from her door. But now every rustle in the darkness set her on high alert. Rey only dared to check and secure her surroundings when the castle had fallen into complete silence. She clutched at her staff for security, its light the only glowing ember of hope she had--ember! Rey scrambled for her pack and untied the cup. She had an ember.

Rey fumbled for the drinking horn she had set the coal in, and it was still glowing softly within the spiral cartilage. Rey felt along the wall of the vast room until she found the hearth of the fireplace in the room. She poured out the ember among the ashes and counted her blessings when she touched the wood stacked neatly to one side. She would have to make it enough to last, but when the fire snapped and crackled to life, it cast a warm glow into the room. She was able to make out her old four-poster bed, covered in dust and cobwebs, the blankets moth eaten, the pillows nearly flat from decay. Just like the rest of the castle, it looked half rotted, half petrified. Rey was decent at mending charms on a good day, when she was clear of mind and filled with the power of her light, but tonight was no such night, and the fabric half heartedly stitched its largest holes closed, still frayed and threadbare in spots. The dust cleared away but instead of evaporating, it settled on the floor. The pillows were lost, their goose down ruined by years of neglect. The curtains were moth-eaten and would offer no protection from the drafty windows, but Rey didn’t have the energy to fix them or draw them. She was in fact certain that if she drew herself into darkness, the monstrous gargoyles would somehow find a way into her bed and eat her alive. She crawled atop the bed and hugged her knees to her chest, her staff in the crook of her arm. She stared at the barricaded door and begged the goddess for divine protection. Would it be enough?

Her eyes were fluttering with sleep, but her fear kept her from truly nodding off. Rey had to get out of the bed every hour to add another log to the fire, which helped keep her going. She had no idea what time of night it had become, not daring to open the curtains. But as the night grew longer and its shadows deeper, she began to hear the beasts again. The scraping thud of the gargoyles was different now, like stone dragged through earth. She guessed they must have left the grounds and were trying to get to her from the outside. Rey knew her windows were too small to admit them, but every time the staff’s light dimmed from her exhaustion, she heard the noises grow closer. 

It was nearly midnight when Rey’s eyes closed for only a moment, her staff sputtered out, falling away, and a sudden darkness swooped into the room. Rey felt the rush of wind, and startled awake. She slapped her face a few times and saw her staff had rolled off the bedside in the low glow of the firelight. As Rey reached for it, there was a moment of hesitation. Was there a beast in the room with her? Could he be hiding under her bed, waiting for her to grab her staff with his cold, clawed hands? She could no longer see the corners of her room in only the firelight. She knelt at the edge of her bed, trying to assess the situation, when that deep crackly voice called out to her from the shadows.

“Please, I mean you no harm,” it came, though Rey could not find where. “Quickly, take your staff, but don’t light it.”

Rey snatched it from where the staff had fallen and no claws seized her wrist. She huddled it to her chest and peered around her. 

“Are you the one who fought with the other two?” she asked into the dark.

“I am,” he said. “I can offer you only a small explanation. We don’t have much time. My kin and I move and live in shadows. When they find your light extinguished, they will come.”

So she was right, they were weak to her light and she could immobilize them.

“What do I need to do to purify this castle?” Rey asked of the gargoyle.

“The six are the keepers The Master placed to guard his secrets. I was once their prized leader, until I rebelled against my Master,” With a thunk the shattered remains of the helmet were cast from the shadows into the glow of the fire light, “and my kin repaid my betrayal with battle.”

Rey still had no trust in the gargoyle, “Perhaps you are one of the others, and you killed the maskless gargoyle, and now you mean to trick me and bring me to my end through this cruel game. Maybe you like to play with your food before you kill it.”

“If I was one of them, you’d already be dead,” The gargoyle said and at last stepped into the firelight. He was tall, and towered more so with his wings folded behind him. He was stooped slightly, bearing their weight, and his legs were solid and thick. His feet and hands ended in claws that looked lethal and sharp. His stone hair did not move with him, and no air stirred his cowl and loincloth. Rey saw new cuts striped across his muscular arms and one was wrent down the length of his face. He was still handsome, with a strong jaw and surprisingly gentle eyes.

“Why is it you can move in the firelight?” Rey demanded, now secure in the knowledge this one meant her no harm.

“Because it is no magick light,” He answered bluntly, as though she should have known that.

Rey felt suddenly stupid, and blushed. She waited for him to go on, but instead he picked back up from where she had asked for his trust.

“The folly of our stone imprisonment is that we cannot kill each other. Even if I rend the others to rubble, they will pull themselves back together. Such is the curse my Master put upon us. But with you, there is hope. If you can slay the six, then you will face no more resistance. The last of Master Palpatine’s magick will die with him.”

“How can I kill them? I am a white witch. My staff is made for healing--I cannot kill.”

The gargoyle held out a clawed hand and within it was a small dagger. “I stole this from the Master’s armory in my rebellion. It contains a kyber crystal. Your light can ignite the crystal, and should you mortally wound the others, the light will burn within them and they will perish.”

“How convenient for you to offer me this…” Rey was hesitant to take the dagger from him, but he moved slowly closer to her. His wings were so large they scraped the floor when he walked. “Is there no other way?” she asked.

“ We have done many evil things in the name of our Master and we are deserving of this fate. It does not matter if we could be saved,” The gargoyle’s stone eyes could move freely, but he was unblinking. His fangs reminded her of the wolves that lived in her woods, and they frightened her when he spoke. 

“How will I catch such powerful creatures?” Rey asked. 

“I will help you catch them. If you use your staff they will merely hide in the darkness beyond its reach. They won’t let you come near enough to trap and kill them. They are like me, powerful, smart, and intent on one thing.”

“ _ Death _ ,” Rey thought, though he did not say it.

“And why not wait until the morning light, and find them frozen and do the deed then?” 

“This castle is made to be impenetrable to light at all times so we could move freely to serve the Master. You walking by us merely awakened us from slumber. And now they will not rest until the castle is emptied and restored to its eternal sleep. It is that, or slay us, Master.”

“Rey,” she offered her name to him. “I am not the master of this castle.”

The gargoyle pondered her for a moment, “Before the Master, I was called Ben.”

Rey reached out at last and took the dagger from Ben. It was hewn from stone, with a bone handle. The kyber crystal was nestled in a hollow carved in the knife, and ancient runes were etched along its length. She could not help but notice how small her hand looked near to the large gargoyle’s, “ _ To Ben’s,” _ she thought.

“Bring your staff, but do not light it. We must move swiftly through the darkness. I will protect you. When I find and fight my brothers, cast your light upon us and freeze us, then do what must be done. Release us from this cursed life, and claim your inheritance, Rey,” Ben said as he retreated into the shadows once more. His dark rocky flesh melted into the darkness. 

Against all her better judgment, Rey found herself trusting Ben, and followed him. She secured her staff to her back with a strap, and slid the knife into the sleeve pocket of her robes. Ben slipped an arm around her waist and bade her to hold on to him. She wrapped her arms around his solid neck, and with a whooshing of his wings, the room spun away from them, and Rey found themselves standing once more in her grandfather’s great hall, only able to mark it as so from the torches lining the walls in their sconces.

She stumbled away from him, surprised at their sudden teleportation. She went to speak, but Ben merely held up a clawed finger to silence her. She nodded and began intently listening to the deafening silence. She could only spare a moment of wonder when the air rushed like a hurricane around them, and Rey saw that all six of their adversaries now appeared from the shadows, forming a circle around them. Her light would not reach them that far away, and she knew they would give no quarter.

Ben moved in close to Rey, his large form towering over hers, wings outstretched to form a barrier above her, standing back to back. Something brushed her leg and Rey realized he had a tail that had curled gently around her ankle, as though he meant to offer her comfort. 

The others moved all at once. Rey grabbed her staff and held it at her side like a sword, waiting to ignite it so she would not petrify Ben and she slipped the dagger into her other hand. “ _ So much for a plan _ ,” she thought, but her will ignited the kyber crystal in the dagger’s belly and it pulsed with a warm yellow light, like a heartbeat. Not strong enough to overwhelm and freeze her enemies, but she hoped it was enough to kill. It had to be enough.

The gargoyles moved as one, their fangs and claws barred. Rey raised her staff and met the onslaught of one’s claws, holding him at bay and swung for his gut with the dagger. He was smart enough to back away. Ben slid a hand backward and held onto her thigh, leaning forward to allow Rey to roll over his back and escape the beast’s gnashing bite. She landed on her feet and was able to block another’s blow. Ben circled with her, a dance of stone and claws, his lashing out to grab hold of the others. When he finally caught one, he bellowed, “HERE!” and Rey ignited her staff. Four leapt back, but she caught one midleap with her light and he fell to the ground, his wing breaking apart under his own weight. Ben was frozen in lock step with the one he had managed to snare. Their fangs were barred in snarls as they meant to rip each other's throats out. Rey swiftly dealt the first blow to the fallen one with a broken wing, surprised at how easily the dagger sunk through the rock. When she withdrew it, light pulsed forth from the wounded chest, and the frozen monstrosity began to vibrate and crackle. Rey had no time to witness his death, and ducked underneath Ben’s massive wings. She had to wedge herself between him and their foe her back pressed against his wide marble chest. She could feel the cold seep through her robes where warmth should be, and she felt pity for him. 

Rey plunged her dagger a second time into this beast’s chest, as she heard the other one shatter behind her. Now this one pulsed with her white light, and she extinguished her staff. Ben let go of his foe, who screamed against his mortal wounds. Ben wrapped his thick arms around Rey and jumped backward, alighting to hover above the scene. His brother writhed in agony, as the light began to crack him. He fell to his knees, clawing at his chest. His helmet cracked and shattered, revealing an ugly brute with pointed ears and four eyes, teeth longer than Ben’s. Light poured from his wailing mouth and his eyes wept tears of light. Rey buried her face against the sight into Ben’s chest, and the gargoyle split asunder, falling into pebbles and dust. The others growled and hissed and gnashed their teeth from the shadows, and another thunderous wind emptied the great hall suddenly.

“They will make us hunt them down,” Ben said as he landed back among the remains of his kin. “They will try to separate us. Ushar, Vicrul, Cardo, and Kuruk remain.”

Rey was shaking and Ben stroked her hair. She guessed he could not feel her, but his act of comfort soothed her. “You can finish this, once and for all,” he said to her. She nodded, wishing his touch was as warm as his words.

The two set off through the castle, Ben leading but keeping Rey under the protection of his wing. She felt secure in his shadow, but soon noticed his wings were so thinly made, that she could see some of the torchlight through the rocky membrane. He was truly exquisitely carved. She found herself marveling at him, a bit distracted, as they pursued the shifty silence into the east wing. Rey had not explored this path yet. She had never been allowed here as a girl. But Ben confidently ushered them through the door, which bore him no resistance.

If the rest of the castle was badly kept and haunting, this wing was even worse. Her grandfather’s slip into depravity became strikingly clear as Rey and Ben ventured into what must have been his inner sanctum. Huge vials and jars of glowing green grotesquery were littered about. A few had been knocked over and their residents had spilled their monstrous contents across the floor. They were twisted hulking man-like forms, with sunken eyes and skin that stretched taut over skeletal features. One had a terrible fracture running up his skull that looked like it had barely healed over. Hundreds of vials and philters lined cabinets, filled with teeth, hair, bits and ends of animals and, Rey guessed, some human remains. The unmistakable hum of magick lingered here, but it was a deep, deep hum. The stench that filled her nose was like that of a corpse--death thrived here. 

“They will be here, hiding, where it is harder to hear or smell them,” Ben whispered to Rey.

That a gargoyle could smell barely registered in Rey’s brain, as she crossed her arm over her nose to lessen the onslaught to her senses.

Ben’s heavy footfalls were muffled by the ruined rugs that lined the corridor, but soon Rey heard malicious teasing laughter.

“You cannot protect her, traitor,” an echoy, gravely voice called. Ben pushed Rey away from himself and she stumbled backwards, landing hard on her rear. She managed to hold onto the dagger, but her staff skittered just beyond her reach. Ben caught the beast mid leap and threw him to the ground. His fall shattered more bottles and shelves splintered beneath his massive weight. He was too far away for her light to reach, but Ben sprung after him, trying to pin him to the floor before he recovered. As Rey found her way back to her feet and reached for her staff, a massive clawed foot came down on the yew bough. It was a miracle the wood did not snap in two. A second gargoyle swiped a clawed hand at her. Rey ducked and took off,. sprinting down the length of the hall. She could hear Ben and his opponent grappling, their heavy bodies scraping against one another ,each blow resounding like thunder. The gargoyle was pursuing her and took flight, and she marked him by the sound of his wings and the destruction of potions he left in his wake. Rey ducked around a cabinet to her right and doubled back. She could see the end of her staff poking out ahead at her. The beast screeched as he turned after her, unable to fly in this smaller space, he went back out into the hallway. He matched Rey step for step, trying to reach through the cabinet and grab her. Rey was forced to duck and crawl along, barely avoiding his searching claws. In a last ditch effort, Rey sprung forward with a leap, jumping over the gargoyle’s swipe. She landed with a tucked roll, her staff secure, and as the beast tried to leap back away from her light, she caught him. He was petrified, his arms raised to shield his eyes as if it would protect him. Rey heaved a few staggered breaths, but she took the dagger and plunged it firmly into the beast’s chest. He too began to vibrate and crumble with her light, and Rey turned away, to where Ben and the fourth gargoyle were locked in battle. Ben had been pinned to the ground, but he glanced Rey’s way and saw her running, her staff held aloft, the light inching ever closer. His kin sensed it too, and looked over his shoulder. He hesitated a moment too long before trying to flee, giving Ben the chance to wrap his massive legs around the other’s waist and grab him around the throat.

That is how Rey found them, frozen beneath her spell. Rey carefully ducked under outstretched wings. She looked at Ben’s face, frozen in a triumphant smirk. The other gargoyle’s mask had already cracked, revealing an eye, which was wide with terror. Rey stabbed him between the shoulder blades and extinguished her light. Ben, able to move again, kicked the gargoyle off himself who was now howling a death rattle, his screams vibrated the glass jars, and some began to pop and spill their sickly contents. Ben grabbed Rey to himself once more and hunkered them both down. He held her like a bride, his massive wings sheltering them from the rain of poisons and acids. Rey looked up into his stone face with wonder. Her hand seemed to move of its own accord as she reached out to touch his cheek. But it missed its connection as Ben sprang forward toward the ashes of the first fallen gargoyle, taking them out of harm’s way.

“That leaves only two,” Ben said as he set Rey down on the far end of the hallway. Rey followed Ben out the door on the far end and into a large inner sanctum. It was a circular room with an altar on one end. This altar looked profane, though. It was as though all of the symbols Rey had known to love had been twisted away from their beautiful purpose. Rey did not have long to look at her grandfather’s depravity, though, before Ben pulled Rey in close to his side. She found herself nestling in close. 

He was cold, but he was solid and he felt safe. She leaned into him, and for the first time she felt the tired ache in her body. Rey had not noticed tiredness or exhaustion, her adrenaline and fear gave her such a will to fight. But dawn was coming. She knew eventually her body would give out, and then she would… Ben would… No, Rey could not even entertain the thought of death. Not when they were so close to victory.

Her senses were beginning to dull with exhaustion, but she could hear the last two now, flapping above them in the darkness of the chamber. Ben had his eyes fixed into the shadows, waiting, his wings once more folded protectively over Rey. Her light could not reach the chamber's high vaulted ceilings, which filled her with dread. Her palms felt sweaty as she clutched her staff and dagger to her. The light in the dagger’s belly seemed more feeble and diluted. “ _ Just a little longer,” _ Rey willed herself to steady her light.

“They mean to make me leave you vulnerable...To take them in the air,” Ben whispered to her. “I can see them circling.”

Rey gripped the dagger tighter, but was filled with resolve, “Throw them down to me and I will finish them off.”

Ben looked at her, and their eyes met. His face was etched with worry, but Rey reached up and touched his cheek with the back of her knuckles. “I will not die here,” she swore to him.

Ben’s clawed hand slowly came forward and cupped Rey’s cheek. Maybe it was her imagination, but he suddenly felt warm. “When I go, light your staff. I will try and throw them down into the light. As long as it is lit, they cannot reach you. Hold one for me, Rey.”

Ben’s massive wings unfurled and he exploded with a massive leap up into the shadows. Rey nearly stumbled backwards in the gale of his ascent. She found her feet and lit her staff and fixed her eyes on the shadows above. Rey prowled the floor, circling.   
“The hunted becomes the hunter,” she murmured, as the final battle began.

Ben soared high, then folded his wings and fell from the great ceiling, landing upon the back of one, bit into his enemy’s shoulder. Ben tore a chunk of stone from his foe and it cascaded to the floor while the beast wailed and hissed. This victory was brief, as Ben was accosted by the second creature, who sought to rend Ben’s wings and leave him flightless. In the struggle, Ben was able to unmask the one he bit, but Ben was forced to release his prey, and swooped low. He grabbed a torch, and wielding it like a sword, staved off one while he attempted to grab hold of the one he had bitten. In a desperate plea, Ben threw the torch with all his might into the face of the broken one. The light momentarily blinded him as the wood burst into coals, filling the room with embers. 

Rey dove out of the way as the fire rained down upon her. She doused the tiny flames catching on the rugs around her before they could burn her. Looking back to the melee, Rey saw Ben was on top of his opponent once more. He had the enemy by the throat in a headlock, asback feet kicked mercilessly at the wings, the thin stone ripping and tearing. When Ben released him, his opponent fell to the floor, where he clawed, hissed, and flailed in pain. Ben and his last foe rose higher, out of the reach of Rey’s light. She ignited her staff as the monster fell, his face frozen in a silent scream. When he crashed he shattered asunder, his remains littering the floor. Rey plunged her dagger into the largest chunk she could find for insurance. The final beast bellowed in rage with a roar that shook the very dust from the vaulted ceiling, and she heard the cataclysmic, unmistakable slam of stone on stone. 

When Rey looked up, Ben was falling, the last gargoyle on top of him, smashing blow after punishing blow into Ben’s torso, face, anything he could reach. Ben was falling unconscious, barely holding on to the other. Rey watched in horror, unwilling to light her staff and freeze them both in their freefall. Their eyes met for only a moment.

“Ben!” Rey called out in desperation.

Ben managed to catch the other’s fist and pulled his arm away, leaving his enemy’s torso wide open. Their hind-claws locked as they fell. The combatants slammed into the floor with such force that the tiles shattered around them. Rey was knocked back from the shockwaves, but she lit her staff before she had even recovered her footing. Her breathing came hard in the sudden quiet as the dust settled. She was afraid to stand, to look, to see if Ben had survived. Her shoulders began to shake as she found her footing. Her body, bruised, exhausted, and scared, shook with every step. 

Ben was frozen, his attacker on top of him. His wings had been shattered, his body badly cracked, but he was still whole. His attacker’s arm was bent at an improbable angle, and his masked head was tossed back in a now silent howl. Rey looked upon Ben’s pained face as she stabbed the final monster. As she put out her light and unfroze them both the beast stumbled away, clutching his chest, and howling in rage, before he imploded into a wave of purifying light. 

But Rey didn’t notice. She had dropped both her staff and the daggers and was kneeling at Ben’s side. Rey’s hands traveled over his body, wishing desperately he was made of flesh so she could heal his cracks and fix his wings. He wasn’t waking up. Rey began to cry. 

“Ben, Ben, please, wake up,” She begged and laid her head on his stone chest. She knew now his heart would not beat and his chest would not heave with life, but she wept for him and his pain. “It’s over, please, come back to me.”

Rey laid across him until her tears were spent and her shoulders racked with dry sobs. She didn’t hear the gentle shifting of gravel as Ben’s wings began to knit themselves back together, nor did she hear the gentle sounds like sand in an hourglass as his cracks stitched. But she felt the heavy fall of his hand on her back as he rubbed her gently with his large hands.

“Rey, sweetheart, why are you crying?” he asked with a throaty croak.

“Ben!” Rey cried and wrapped herself around his neck with all her might, and he held her to him, “You’re ok,” she sniffled into his shoulder.

They embraced and Ben began to stroke her hair, before sitting up at last and pulling Rey into his lap. She looked up into his eyes and held his gaze. Ben ran a thumb over her cheek and he smiled. A smile that was light itself, which split his face into mirth and starlight. His eyes and nose crinkled, and she saw he had dimples. Rey could not help but to return the smile with her own.

“Rey, you’ve been incredible,” Ben said at last, but his smile faded, and Rey felt him press something cold into her hands, “But you have to do me one last kindness.”

Rey’s chin quivered as Ben folded her fingers around the dagger and brought it to his chest. She shook her head, closing her eyes shut tight but the tears still leaked out. “No, no, Ben, no. There has to be another way. Don’t ask me to do this,” Rey begged.

“Shh, shh, it’s ok. I want this curse to end,” Ben cooed, “I’ve been this way for so long. It’s ok, Rey, you barely know me. I’ve done many awful things for your grandfather. I’m not sure I could undo the damage in a thousand lifetimes. You’d be doing me a kindness,” Ben was looking past her now, up into the black depths of the sanctum. He looked back at Rey with a start when she tore her hand away from him and threw the dagger across the room.

“I said no,” Rey insisted, “I won’t let you toss your life aside like it means nothing. You mean something to me, Ben. Something important. I don’t care that we just met. You fought with me, protected me, cared for me. I don’t even know why you did what you did. But you betrayed my grandfather, and that means you aren’t lost. Let me try. At least let me try,” she pleaded.

Ben contemplated her, looking at her face with such intensity Rey felt naked beneath his gaze. “If it can’t be done, Rey--if I can’t be saved--please, promise me, you will reconsider.”

“There’s nothing to reconsider,” Rey said flatly and disentangled herself from their embrace. She looked around the sanctum in desperation and her eyes fell back on the altar. A realization came over Rey as she looked at the twisted remains on its surface.“You were made here,” she said and looked back at Ben who had come to stand in the rubble of the shattered floor.

“How can you tell?” He asked.

“This altar,” Rey said as she walked up to it, “I thought it was a perverse thing when I looked at it. But I am sure.” Rey waved her hands over the relics left laying there. The pentagram had been inverted, its point turned away from the rising light in the east. Wherefresh soil was meant to be positioned was graveyard dirt. The swamp water in place of moon water, murky and filthy. Bones decorated with ancient runes Rey did not recognize, and the blackest ashes Rey had ever seen. There were so many amplification crystals, each one affiliated with curses. An obsidian dagger, black tourmaline, flaming red carnelian, and central was a large piece of black onyx, with a name carved into it positioned along the pentagram. All of this ringed in black salt. Black salt was usually a sign of protection, but Rey surmised it’s presence here meant it was only to protect her grandfather from his own creation.

“Kylo… Ren,” Rey said as she deciphered the runes. “He called you Kylo Ren, didn’t he, Ben?”

Her words hung heavy between them, until Ben acknowledged her with a nod, “He gave us all new names. I was never told the others. They had been here long before me. And none came after me. I’m not sure if the others even remembered who they were.” He paused. “Somehow, I never forgot.”

Rey’s heart felt heavy as she looked at the forlorn creature. Her grandfather’s curse here was the most cruel display she had ever seen.

“Ben, do you remember anything about how you were made?” Rey asked. She began rummaging around under the altar table, pulling out jars, vials, and boxes. She was determined now. If she could find some tools, Rey was sure she could break the curse.

“I remember before,” Ben said. He began to walk up toward the altar. “I was weary, traveling alone through the country. I came here seeking shelter for the night. Your grandfather admitted me, fed me at his table. He asked me about myself, and I thought he was just a lonely old man. I was so weary. I had been traveling for years, after my father died. I was so lost. I felt like it was my fault he was gone, and I was not ready to accept the mantle of my family's legacy. I was running from place to place. I wanted to escape. I had seen so much pain, and I told him my heart felt so heavy and I was so wretched that I wished there was some way to make the pain stop. He wore the face of a friend when he handed me a draft of what he called a soothing potion. He let me unburden my heart onto him, but after the first few sips of the potion I began to feel ill. Took the potion in my hand and forced me to drink the drought. Then the room was swimming, and when I awoke, it was dark.”

Breaking from his narrative, Ben walked up the steps and looked at the altar. Rey had a few herbs gathered in her lap and was still digging around as she listened. Tears pricked at her eyes, but time wasn't on their side.

“I remember him standing there,” Ben pointed at the front of the altar, “and I was bound and laying there,” Ben now pointed behind the altar in the space between the altar and the cold fireplace. Rey transferred her findings to the altar and knelt down next to the space. She wiped away the dust with her sleeve and found dark stains left on the flagstone. A binding circle and it was still intact. Rey reached out to break it with her hand, her palm pulsing with light, but she was rebuked by the circle with a painful shock. Rey yelped in surprise and pulled her hand away.

“I can’t break it by force,” Rey moaned. “Do you remember anything else, Ben?” she turned back to the herbs and began to crush them.

Ben pondered this for a few moments, before shaking his head, “No, all I remember was fear and pain. And his laugh. I’ve never heard a laugh so cold and devoid of anything joyful before.”

Rey contemplated this for a few moments and then nodded, her mind made up. “Ben, do you trust me?” She asked. 

Ben looked taken aback. The muscles in his jaw rolled, but he made no reply.

“You saved my life and protected me many times. I don’t know if it was your final act of rebellion against my grandfather, or if you meant to serve me in his place. I don’t care. My grandfather lied to you, poisoned you, and cursed you. He made you do unspeakable things in his name. If I can save you and break his curse, then I will be able to rest knowing he has no more evil left in this life. But Ben, you must trust me. I don’t think that herbs and potions and incantations will break this curse. He meant for you to either be alone in the darkness and lost forever, unable to leave and unable to die, or he meant for you to die again and again at the hands of your former brothers. I can’t break that kind of spell without something equally powerful.”

Rey stood and crossed the few feet over to Ben. He was hunched over, looking down at his feet. His jaw was trembling. Rey reached up a gentle hand and placed it on his cheek, just as she had done only hours ago in the hallway. With her other hand, she took Ben’s hand and brought it to her chest, laying the palm against her heartbeat. Ben’s head lifted and he held her gaze. She swore, though they were made of stone, she could almost see them sparkle as though he was close to tears.

“Do you trust me?” She asked again.

“Rey…” He started and turned his head away from her hand. She merely waited for him, giving him the grace he needed. “I… Yes. Whatever you need to do. If I can become human again I can make up for the past ten years.”

Rey took his hand from her chest and kissed his knuckles. “I need you to lay down in the circle on your back.”

Ben stepped over the circle etched on the floor and laid down in its center. Rey busied herself now stoking the fire in the large hearth next to him. It took her a moment, and as Ben watched, he saw how physically exhausted Rey was. The drag in her step, her hand rubbed at the base of her neck, her eyes fluttered and fought to stay open. She was resilient--he had already pushed her so hard, nearly to the brink, and she was still trying to save him.

“Rey, maybe we can wait until tomorrow?” He asked as he watched her place crystals along the perimeter of the circle.

“The full moon is tonight, and my magick will be its most potent to release you from this curse. I am not going to leave you to rot in this tomb for another month.” Her tone left no room to argue. Ben watched her go around now with a burning bundle of sage, and she traced patterns in the air and circled the bowls of things Ben could not name and she then at last stepped into the circle and began to wave the smoke over him, and then herself. Rey lifted the bottom of her robes, bit them, and tore off two long strips. Ben shifted a bit as she knelt beside him. 

“I promise I won't hurt you, but I must blindfold us both during the ritual. My eyes often glow with light during and I can’t have you turning to stone while we mix our energies.”

“W-while we what?” Ben asked, suddenly flustered.

“It’s going to be ok,” Rey insisted before tying the cloth over his eyes.

Rey stood now and disrobed fully. She cast her clothes aside and then she looked down at Ben. He lay still and motionless, but his hands were balled into fists of tension. She knew he had heard what she had done and saw a small swell begin to form under his loincloth. Rey blindfolded herself now and sank back down to sit at Ben’s side. 

“Ben,” she said to him, picturing his face in her mind’s eye. “We need to build up our energy slowly. We need as much energy as possible to break the curse. When we release the energy, I want you to picture yourself as a human again. If we both focus on that in our mind’s eye, it will increase the spell's potency.”

“I understand,” Ben’s gravely voice was somehow even more captivating without her sight.

Rey’s hands trembled as she reached for him, and her fingertips found the smooth marble of his side. Rey ran her hands up his abdomen and then his chest. She focused firmly on his name and imagined a bead of light forming at her fingertip. She traced the rune for his name over his heart, and pressed her hand firmly against it, visualizing the rune sinking into his core. She jumped a little when Ben’s hand curled over the lower part of her waist, his fingers gently lighted on her, rubbed at her. Yes, he understood.

Rey’s hand ran back down Ben’s lengthy torso now, and she was searching for the edge of his hip point. Her fingers found his hard skin smooth under her every gentle touch. Her finger tips bumped the thin band holding the modest piece of cloth over Ben’s groin, and then she wandered down his thigh, savoring every inch of perfectly carved muscle. He still felt cool under her touches, but she imagined him as flesh now--what his flesh would look like prickling under her feather light touch.

Rey shifted to kneel, giving her room to move her hands gently over Ben’s whole body, like a harpsichord, forgotten for years. She meant to wake his flesh with her gentle, lingering touches. Rey’s right hand explored Ben’s collar bones, the gentle concave where it met his shoulder, down his arm, back up again, skirting along his neck. She rubbed at the pulse point in his neck, imagining the flutter that would awaken under her fingers. Her left hand explored Ben’s thighs, the waistband of the cloth rolled under her thumb. Then she traced up the carved v-cut of the space where his abs met his side. Ben twitched beneath her touch, but she was not sure if it was anticipation or tickling.

Ben gently returned Rey’s advances. His hand traced the curve of her back. He had more reach than her, able to extend up her shoulder blades and circle firmly at the nape of her neck, where she had been sore. Rey let a small hum of pleasure resonate in her throat. When Ben trailed back down her spine, he pressed his palm against the flat of her back, silently asking her to come closer.

“Not yet,” Rey whispered, and she bent over now, planting gentle kisses all along Ben’s side, stomach, and chest. Each place her lips met stone, she visualized her kiss spreading warmth and feeling back into his body, rippling out along his length. Rey saw without seeing, her will and her magick beginning to flow freely through her body like a gentle wave kissing the shore.

Ben’s hands continued to explore, his second now holding her hand and rubbing along her knuckles while his first sought out tightness in her back, thighs, shoulders--anywhere he could reach, and rubbed at her firmly. Every touch sent a small shock of yearning through them. Rey’s skin prickled in response, and her breath deepened. Ben followed the curve of her back down one last time, and he hesitated for a moment at her hip, before he let himself follow the curve of her backside. He gave her ass a firm but gentle squeeze, and Rey could not stop herself humming in pleasure. His hand moved back and forth now from her thigh to her ass, kneading and playing with her as she continued to ply him with kisses, working her way up to his chest. Ben had decided everything about Rey was soft as he touched her. Her muscles were firm from years of work, but everywhere he explored was soft skin, soft hair, soft hands, soft lips--all of it gentle, like her. Rey wanted to linger in his caresses, but she had so much more to awaken.

Rey found his neck again with her lips, tracing up to the junction of his jawline. She could not see him, but she could feel the smile on his face when at last her lips met his. Ben could not remember a time in which he had ever felt so relaxed and yet perfectly attuned as when their lips touched. Floating in darkness, but not asleep. Their bodies were alive with tingling sensations. Every caress Ben placed on her legs and ass sent a ripple through her core. Every petal soft touch from Rey raised the warmth and light within Ben. Every kiss sent Rey’s heart fluttering. They kissed sweetly, softly, learning each other. Rey had expected his stony flesh to hurt her lips, but she simply found him hard and smooth. He didn’t crash, didn’t break, didn’t bruise her. Ben kissed Rey as though she would be the last person he would ever kiss, and wanted to savor every moment.

Rey leaned forward across Ben and her hands cradled the sides of his face. Ben took advantage of her precarious perch on her knees and lifted her with both hands and placed her to lay on him. Rey wondered if Ben could feel the pooling warmth between her thighs, but only for a moment before she was lost in their kisses again. Ben began now to attend very deliberately to Rey’s aching muscles, ignoring the ache in his groin. He rolled her hands up her back, cupping and kneading at her shoulder bladers, the nape of her neck. Ben felt as though every inch of Rey was magnified beneath his fingers. He was painting her in his mind’s eye. Without his vision, every touch, every kiss, felt like so much more.

Rey’s hands trailed over Ben’s hair, neck, chest, and down as far as she could reach to his stomach. She noticed every scar beneath her fingers, every imperfection bumped beneath her touch. Each freckle and mole felt like his body spelled out a special missive for her to learn and touch and explore. There was no haste. Every kiss, every touch was slow and lingering. It raised their desire and none of their impatience. There was something uniquely profound and vulnerable about being seen with only touch, and they savored it. Ben rounded off of Rey’s shoulders and began down her side body, where his thumbs brushed the curve of her breasts. Rey shivered. Ben slowly, carefully, swirled his thumbs over her nipples, which rose to attention. His large hands easily cupped her entirely, rubbing and squeezing at her firm chest. His thumbs explored every angle and swipe he could try, earning new shivers and moans. When he heard one he liked, he repeated himself. Rey was having trouble continuing their kisses, her mind already swimming with a heady need for more. When Ben played with her tits, it was like an electric current raced down her body, tingling her labia and clit along with each gentle nudge. The sensation was indulgent, decadent.

Rey could not help but to rub her body up and down against Ben’s, seeking to heighten these delicious sensations. She could feel the smooth marble of his belly, now warm beneath her. She broke their kiss and slid down his length, her hands trailing along his side, until she found his hips. She knelt on hands and knees above him now, and his fingertips sought her, brushing along her forearms. Rey let her hand follow down the curve of Ben’s hip now, and traced along his inner thigh. She was careful to avoid his cock at first. Ben trembled, and Rey paused.

“Are you ready Ben?” Rey asked. Her voice faintly echoed through the chamber.

“Yes,” Ben responded. His voice was clear and bright.

Rey sat back a bit to rest on Ben’s thighs, her hands moved up again to his inner leg. Rey found she could take the loincloth and move it along Ben’s skin to the side. Her thumb gently scooped under Ben’s balls, and she reached up to wrap her index finger around the base of his shaft, which was a stretch. She could not see him, but she could feel he was large and thick. She massaged him as she held him, and she bent forward. Rey kissed his abs as her hand massaged around his cock. Ben involuntarily undulated his hips--his cock stiffened before Rey had truly touched it. Rey smiled.

Her free hand found his shaft now and began to slowly, firmly, move up and down its length. Rey’s own desire and wetness increased as she felt he was longer than both of her hands wrapped around it. The head of his cock peeked out from her grasp, and she used both hands to pump him slowly. Rey felt Ben’s hand caress the top of her head as she continued to kiss his stomach, and he groaned--a guttural sound that rumbled deep in his chest. Ben cupped Rey’s face in his hands and gently applied pressure so she was forced to crawl back up his length. She heard his cock slap back against his abs when she let go. Rey’s sex now hovered inches above Ben’s.

Ben’s hands slid down Rey’s back and he cupped her ass, kneading the flesh, before gently sinking beyond, his fingertips reaching for her pussy. He found her dripping. She arched backward into his hands. The tips of his fingers found her entrance slick with arousal. He gently pulled the lips apart, and massaged at her hole, but he didn’t dare enter her for fear of his claws. He rolled her labia between his fingers, kneaded her vulva, and then, blessedly then, Ben took one hand back around and began to nudge and rub at Rey’s clit with his fingers. One hand behind continued his exploration of her folds and teased her entrance, and his other rubbed and caressed her clit. Ben splayed Rey’s lips wide, and Rey shuddered when a new sensation sought her hole. Ben’s tail circled and probed at her entrance. Rey began to writhe and pant. He took that as a sign and pushed his tail inside of Rey, letting the tip curl and unfurl. He sought her spongy core. Rey was moaning now, small gentle hums. Ben pressed his tail deeper, using it in place of a finger to coax and stroke her inside. She felt heat rise within her, searing through her body from her core. A white hot light of pleasure surged through her as Ben rubbed, touched, stroked, and played with her. His claws prickled her skin. His fangs brushed her lips and sent a thrill through her. Rey’s hips arched and bucked back and forth between his hands, his tail winding and unwinding her like a spool as it rubbed and circled her core. It was all she could do to plant her own on each side of his body and hold herself up while she gasped and moaned. But it wasn’t enough stimulation. His tail was a tease. She wanted more. Rey wanted Ben--all of him.

Rey pushed her legs out farther to the side, lowering herself back down until her sex touched Ben’s. His tail left her and she suddenly felt empty. Ben’s hands found their way back to her ass, holding onto her. Rey rubbed her pussy against the length of his cock, feeling her wetness glide along him. Ben groaned and arched his back. His claws pricked at her skin as his grip intensified. Rey didn’t mind. She rubbed her whole length against his. At last Rey braced her knees and lifted off him, reaching between them to wrap her hand around his dick. She nudged the head against herself, rocking gently against it. And at last, Rey notched the head into her cunt. Just the fullness of his head caused Rey to arch and toss her head back. Ben let out a hiss between his fangs. His hands held their grip on her hips. Slowly, very slowly, Rey lowered herself onto his length, the stretch, the sensation of being absolutely full of Ben, was unlike anyone Rey had lain with before. When at last he hilted at the root, Rey had to plant her hands on his chest for support and wait. Already her walls fluttered around him. Her loins were hot and her breathing hard. Ben was shaking beneath her, a vulnerable tremble. Rey found herself petting him, soothing him, but he merely growled, “You feel amazing,” before Rey laid down across him. She pressed her face into the hollow where his neck and shoulder met, nuzzling him. And then Rey gave an experimental roll of her hips. Ben gasped and shivered. Rey felt the breath suck out from her lungs as she hilted him again. Her body stretched around him, and she could only let him a short way out before coming back down his length. And she did it over and over again. Ben managed to slip a hand between them and give Rey something to grind against. But she refused to sit back up, her body seeking his, and needing the closeness of their chests, their hearts, their breath together. His tail had a mind of its own and began to circle and caress her tits, adding to the nearly overwhelming sensations in Rey’s pussy.. Ben’s other hand squeezed at her ass.

Ben began to roll his hips along with Rey, trying to match their rhythms as they rocked and rutted against each other. They had to go slowly for Ben’s sheer size and length, but Ben enjoyed feeling every deep thrust slide into Rey--his Rey. Rey ground herself down onto his fingers with each lilting thrust, finding a spot to rub against that made her roll her head back and moan into Ben’s ear. Ben pulled his head down to kiss Rey over and over again. With each thrust he kissed somewhere new--her forehead--thrust--her nose--a moan--her cheek--she bounced--her mouth--he bucked up into her.

The intensity of their sex increased as did their urgency. Ben began to moan her name, calling for her between hums and grunts as their bodies found a rhythm all their own. Ben filled Rey again and again with himself, and she eagerly welcomed him into her. She spoke his name, calling him her own, panting into his neck until she could bear it no longer. Rey shifted to kiss him now, their tongues touched, He nipped at her lips and it sent a new flurry of pleasure through her. His tail flicked against her tits. Now Rey felt the pressure building within her like a coil. She smiled to herself and squeezed her pelvic muscles around Ben’s dick. He yelped with surprise and cursed with pleasure. There was no stopping her impending orgasm as Rey bucked against his hand and took his cock deep within her. 

“Ben, with this spell, I set you free,” Rey gasped and planted her hand over the rune she had placed in Ben’s chest. She pushed herself fully onto his cock, filling herself to the brim. Was it just her imagination or did she feel his heart pounding beneath her fingers? Her body began to shake and quivered, and she had to collapse back onto his chest. Her lips fell against his as Ben pumped into her and Rey began to tremble at her peak.

Rey came against him like a cresting wave breaking and spilling over with a thunderous force. Her pleasure crashed and roared with life. With it she saw Ben in her mind, beneath her, his face and body renewed, soft and human again. She saw her light pass into him with her mouth on his as her cunt fluttered against his fingers and on his cock. And Ben, buried so deeply within Rey, could feel her walls pulsing. Her pleasure sent him over the edge into ecstasy. He groaned into their kiss. Rey felt a wave of emotions crescendo with their coupling, almost as overwhelming as their orgasm--relief, bliss, joy, hope all swirled within her. Her pulsing light faded slowly, and Ben’s arms wrapped around her. Rey settled her head on his chest, and felt Ben’s breath rise slowly beneath her. Both were too dazed in post-orgasmic glow to realize what had come to pass. At first, anyway.

When their heady glow (for Rey literally) began to fade, Rey's heart began to race. Outside she could hear the birds beginning the morning song, ushering in the grey hours before dawn. Ben's arms were still wrapped around her, her ear pressed against his chest. But she sat bolt upright after a single breath brought her senses back. Rey's hands shook when she felt for the knot holding her blindfold on. And when her fingers finally found purchase, and the scrap fell from her eyes, Rey gasped.

Beneath her lay a handsome man, his pale skin dotted in a constellation of freckles. As muscular as he had been carved, there was no lie in his making. And yet Rey continued to marvel. As he reached for his own blindfold, and her eyes drank in his every movement, she saw the battle scars had also been healed. So powerful was their spell, that Ben had truly been brought back and made whole in every way. Her hands gently planted against his chest, where she had placed the rune for his name, and underneath her palms she felt it--his beating heart.

Ben's hands lingered on the scrap of fabric that shielded his eyes. Rey wanted to see them, and she whispered an encouragement, "It's ok Ben, take it off."

At last when he did, Rey saw the most beautiful pair of clear brown eyes, flecked with grey and green, brimming with tears. Rey placed a soothing hand on Ben, who let his tears fall in relief.

"I never thought I would feel the weight of my breath or the burden of my heart again," Ben murmured against her palm.

"A heart is a heavy burden," Rey replied. She laid against him and he held her and let ten years of emotions flow free. The fire in the hearth slowly faded into embers as they embraced tenderly. In the warmth of a sleepy fire, the two drifted off into a deep slumber, and for both of them it felt as though they had never known true rest before.

\----------------------

"Do you know what I thought when I first saw you?" Ben asked Rey as she ladled his bowl full of potato soup.

"Hmm?" Rey hummed as she sucked some spilled broth off her thumb.

"I thought you were a Fae, or part Sylvan. A demi-god walking down the halls, bringing starlight with every step," Ben said. He reached for her hand and pulled her to sit at her place on the bench next to him.

"Don't be silly," Rey said and her cheeks pinkened.

"Your silken hair, your dazzling eyes, you freckles like so many stars in the sky. You were a galaxy incarnate, and you somehow saw fit to save me," Ben kissed her hand and up her arm, to her neck and then ended on her cheek. Rey was giggling now and pushed him back playfully.

"You should watch yourself to draw the wrath of the real gods," she teased. Yet Rey was pleased. They had spent much of the day sleeping, woke around midday parched and aching. Ben had wrapped Rey in his cowl and carried her back to her childhood room. They landed on the goose down bed and slept much the way through to dinner, waking only to sip water and snuggle deeper into each other's embrace. 

Rey was rested enough to clean and mend her robes, and she had torn down the black curtains in her room and transfigured Ben his own clothing. Although she had liked the sight of his naked body dappled in the evening light, the castle was large and drafty. They ate their fill and drank a fine wine that Rey had found now that she could illuminate the candelabras and draw back the curtains. And at the end of their meal Rey rested her head against Ben's shoulder.

"There's something I should tell you, Ben," Rey said.

Ben stiffened a little, afraid of the endless possibilities she might say. "Y-yes, Rey?"

"I don't think you noticed yet, but I let you keep your fangs," Rey held up a silver plate for Ben to look into. "I liked those."

Several Weeks Later-----------------------------------

Ben and Rey had done much to make the castle habitable--cleaning, scrubbing, and banishing her grandfather's ancient and unsettling collection of dark magick and mess. In it all, she had never found a reason for her grandfather to send her away. Yet, she had found Ben. He became her answer. Yet, Rey had found herself longing for the quiet retreat of her cabin. Ben had agreed to return with her while she figured out what to do with her inheritance. There was however, a small problem.

"Oh, dear," Rey laughed with a hand over her mouth. Ben had had to duck through the door, and then he had to stoop beneath the low ceiling of her cottage. His feet hung off her bed. Everywhere he turned he bumped or broke another vial or jar. His head was currently covered in dried lilac petals and he was sneezing profusely. 

"Can't you make the cabin bigger?" He asked, exasperated. They'd been trying to elbow around each other for a week now.

"I can, but I have a better idea."

"Made up your mind?" Ben asked, but Rey shushed him as she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

An hour later Ben and Rey were standing on the doorstep, and Rey wiped her hands on her apron. She nodded at Ben and he took her hand. Rey spoke the incantation and the mystic circle around the cottage began to glow. A roar of wind and a whirl of colors flurried around them. And when the cottage landed back on the ground, it sat on the tall hill of her castle estate, overlooking it's rolling fields, with newly planted crops. In the west the sun was beginning it's descent, a brilliant golden hour. 

"I remember climbing this hill as a girl, and I loved watching the sunset over the grounds," Rey smiled. "And now I can have the best of both worlds--my new home, my new love, and my little cabin retreat."

Ben gave Rey's hand a squeeze and pulled her into a hug. They kissed with the golden sun in their hair and a gentle breeze singing through the valley.

"And I have the whole world in my arms," Ben said as he looked into her hazel eyes. His grin broke wide over his face, and Rey grinned back. She loved that toothy grin, his dimples, the way his eyes crinkled, and especially his fangs.

"I love you," Rey said.

"I know," said Ben.

And they lived happily ever after.


End file.
